Scientific American Supplement, No. 421

⋆Scientific American Supplement

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scientific American Supplement, No. 421,
January 26, 1884, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Scientific American Supplement, No. 421, January 26, 1884
Author: Various
Release Date: July 24, 2005 [EBook #16353]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 421

NEW YORK, JANUARY 26, 1884
Scientific American Supplement. Vol. XVII., No. 421.
Scientific American established 1845
Scientific American Supplement, $5 a year.
Scientific American and Supplement, $7 a year.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS.--Furcot's Six Horse Power Steam Engine.--With several figures. 6714
Foot Lathes.--With engraving. 6715
Endless Trough Conveyer.--2 engravings. 6715
Railroad Grades of Trunk Lines. 6715
English Express Trains.--Average speed, long runs, etc. 6715
Apparatus for Separating Substances Contained in the Waste Waters of Paper Mills, etc.--2 figures. 6717
II. TECHNOLOGY.--An English Adaptation of the American Oil Mill.--Description of the apparatus, and of the old and new processes.--Several engravings. 6716
Large Blue Prints.--By W.B. Parsons, Jr. 6717
III. ELECTRICITY, ETC.--Electrical Apparatus for Measuring and for Demonstration at the Munich Exhibition.--With descriptions and numerous illustrations of the different machines. 6711
A New Oxide of Copper Battery.--By F. De Lalande and S. Chaperon.--With description and three illustrations. 6714
IV. MATHEMATICS, ETC.--To Find the Time of Twilight.--1 figure. 6720
A New Rule for Division in Arithmetic. 6725
Experiments in Binary Arithmetic. 6726
V. ARCH?OLOGY.--Grecian Antiquities.--With engravings of the Monument of Philopappus.--Tomb from the Ceramicus.--Tower of the winds.--The Acropolis.--Old Corinth.--Temple of Jupiter.--The Parthenon.--Temple of Theseus, etc. 6721
VI. NATURAL HISTORY, ETHNOLOGY, ETC.--Poisonous Serpents and their Venom.--By Dr. Archie Stockwell.--A serpent's mouth, fangs, and poison gland.--Manner of attack.--Nature of the venom.--Action of venom.--Remedies. 6719
Ethnological Notes.--Papuans.--Negritos. 6720
VII. HORTICULTURE, BOTANY, ETC.--The Hornbeams.--Uses to which the tree is put.--Wood for manufactures.--For fuel.--Different varieties.--With engravings of the tree as a whole, and of its leaves, fruit, flowers, etc. 6724
Fruit of Camellia Japonica.--1 engraving. 6725
VIII. MEDICINE. SANITATION, ETC.--House Drainage and Refuse. Abstract of a lecture by Capt. Douglas Galton.--Treating of the removal of the refuse from camps, small towns, and houses.--Conditions to observe in house drains, etc. 6717
Pasteur's New Method of Attenuation. 6718
Convenient Vaults. 6719
IX. MISCELLANEOUS.--Spanish Fisheries.--Noticeable objects in the Spanish Court at the late Fisheries Exhibition. 6722
Duck Shooting at Montauk. 6723
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ELECTRICAL APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND FOR DEMONSTRATION AT THE MUNICH EXHIBITION.
Apparatus for use in laboratories and cabinets of physics were quite numerous at the Munich Exhibition of Electricity, and very naturally a large number was to be seen there that presented little difference with present models. Several of them, however, merit citation. Among the galvanometers, we remarked an apparatus that was exhibited by Prof. Zenger, of Prague. The construction of this reminded us of that of other galvanometers, but it was interesting in that its inventor had combined in it a series of arrangements that permitted of varying its sensitiveness within very wide limits. This apparatus, which Prof. Zenger calls a "Universal Rheometer" (Fig. 1), consists of a bobbin whose interior is formed of a piece of copper, whose edges do not meet, and which is connected by strips of copper with two terminals. This internal shell is capable of serving for currents of quantity, and, when the two terminals are united by a wire, it may serve as a deadener. Above this copper shell there are two identical coils of wire which may, according to circumstances, be coupled in tension or in series, or be employed differentially. Reading is performed either by the aid of a needle moving over a dial, or by means of a mirror, which is not shown in the figure. Finally, there is a lateral scale, R, which carries a magnetized bar, A, that may be slid toward the galvanometer. This magnet is capable of rendering the needle less sensitive or of making it astatic. In order to facilitate this operation, the magnet carries at its extremity a tube which contains a bar of soft iron that may be moved slightly so as to vary the length of the magnet. Prof. Zenger calls this arrangement a magnetic vernier. It will be seen that, upon combining all the elements of the apparatus, we can obtain very different combinations; and, according to the inventor, his rheometer is a substitute for a dozen galvanometers of various degrees of sensitiveness, and permits of measuring currents of from 20 amperes down to 1/50000000 an ampere. The apparatus may even be employed for measuring magnetic forces, as it constitutes a very sensitive magnetometer.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--ZENGER'S UNIVERSAL RHEOMETER.]
Prof. Zenger likewise had on exhibition a "Universal Electrometer" (Fig. 2), in which the fine wire that served as